My Sweetest Downfall
by Peanut Princess
Summary: Miragaoka Wakana. The new girl, the worst pretender, and someone who appears to hold a grudge against Fuji Syuusuke. Fuji, on the other hand, finds her amusing because of her pretty fingers. FujiOC, KaidohOC
1. Miragaoka Wakana

**My Sweetest Downfall**  
x _lawli-chan_

**Summary:** Miragaoka Wakana. The new girl, the worst pretender, and someone who amuses him. Why? Well. . .she has "pretty fingers." And! She hates him. Fuji's not the sanest person you'd see around, after all.

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**Disclaimer(s): **_Hindi akin. _Not mine. PoT, that is. XD _Nagkalinawan na ha, hmm?_

**Note to the Reader: **FujiOC, I hope you'll like it. High School fic, anyone? And did you know that you couldn't lick your own elbow? I tried doing it, and I only ended up with a bad case of stiff neck. -.- _Please, please enjoy your stay._

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**-o1-**  
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There was a flash of lightning outside, followed shortly by a loud roaring of thunder.

Fuji Yuuta couldn't help but wince, his eyes moving over to glare at the curtained kitchen window visible from his position at the dining table, wanting nothing else at the moment other than salvation from the ill weather that had caused all tennis activities for the last few days to be postponed. It had been raining endlessly for three straight days, and, by how the natural activity outside looked – or rather _sounded, _in Yuuta's case – so far, he was safe to assume that the insufferable climatic condition didn't have plans of ending up anytime sooner.

Yuuta was already fully decked with the St. Rudolph high school uniform, and he had no intention of ruining it by walking to school under such torrents of rain. He was even surprised that classes hadn't yet been declared suspended – how anyone could expect to mobilize while it rained cats and dogs out there was seriously beyond him. For a teensy weeny tiny moment, it made the youngest Fuji actually regret the fact that he had left the dorms to live back in the Fuji residence right after he graduated from middle school, despite the fact that he remained in St. Rudolph for the rest of his high school years. The risks of getting soaked in a dismal weather like this one would be a tad less if he had remained living in the dorms, with the boarding house only one hundred meters away from the school building itself.

Sighing at the thought, Yuuta turned back to his half-cold soup of a breakfast, doing his best not to let the weather ruin his already less-than-good mood. Oh well, he'd be just careful not to walk near puddles, then.

At the same time, his brother, Syuusuke, decided to suddenly appear in the kitchen, startling him more than he would ever be with the loudest thunder, which was saying something, considering that he was Yuuta, after all. An ill, foreboding weather plus a sadistic, suddenly-appearing tensai was never really good for one's health, or so it seemed.

"Aniki!" he started crossly, as Fuji, in complete Seigaku attire, took the seat across from him with a smile too early in the gloomy morning to be plastered already on his pretty face. "Don't do that!"

Fuji feigned innocence. "Do what, Yuuta?" he asked smilingly.

Yuuta realized it was useless pointing out that he was scaring him (and he didn't want to admit it anyway), so he just shrugged and ate his soup. Fuji also went on starting his breakfast, and for a moment, there was a mildly awkward silence, save from the sound of raindrops pattering heavily against the windows and roof of the Fuji household.

When he thought the brown-haired tensai was already too engrossed with his breakfast to notice anything else, Yuuta had glanced at Fuji thoughtfully, noting his appearance three years after he had graduated from middle school and entered Seishun High School Academy. Nothing much had changed since then; Fuji was still the tennis genius that he ever was, he still looked too pretty to be considered a boy, he still walked around with his eyes closed (that one would perpetually wonder how he still managed to see through his eyelids, or if his genius had actually reached the level that could enable him to function efficiently even without the sense of sight), and he still was the ever-smiling boy that melted half the student body's heart. The only distinctive feature he had now that he didn't have back in their younger years was his considerably shorter hair: if three years ago he had it chin-length (and thus complementing his already delicate appearance), this time around it was in a boyish trim, with some of the strands at the back of his head sticking out naturally, making him look more masculine and (if that was possible) even more enticing. . .

. . .To the _women's_ eyes, of course! Yuuta _didn't_ and _will never think_ that his brother was enticing! That was quite freaky if you ask him.

"We have a pretty bad weather, no?" Fuji suddenly said, sounding as if the very idea was good and successfully snapping Yuuta back to his senses. "A little odd, don't you think, Yuuta?"

Yuuta threw him a look that suggested that he thought Fuji was insane – not that he wasn't really one already, no. "It's quite normal, considering it's early October," he replied gruffly.

Fuji only nodded. "Saa. . ."

At that moment, thunder roared again from outside, and the light that hung over the dining table flickered briefly, making both Fujis look up at it with mixed emotions: Yuuta with an apprehensive expression on his face, and Fuji with that curious, lightly intrigued one. The two brothers completely differed from each other in most aspects, indeed; just the completely opposing reactions a small thing such as a flickering light bulb had managed to elicit from them was one solid proof for that matter.

"Would there be a black-out?" Yuuta asked to nobody in particular.

Fuji went back to his soup with that smile on his face. "Seems that way." Looking at the clock on the wall behind Yuuta, however, he realized that he would be running late for morning practice if he didn't move anytime soon, and though he didn't look like it, he was actually a person who valued punctuality (although he doubted it if half the club would even show in time with a weather this uncooperative). So gently, he placed his spoon back to his bowl and stood, slinging the tennis bag that had been sitting on the floor beside him over his shoulder. "I gotta go now. See you around, Yuuta."

Yuuta frowned again. My, did Fuji's little brother liked to do that. "Are you sure you guys could practice in this rain?" he asked, his eyes following his brother's progress towards the door.

Fuji paused at the kitchen doorway long enough to answer Yuuta's question. "Saa, saa. . .we are _the _Seigaku team, after all!" With a soft chuckle, he left, leaving his younger brother raising an eyebrow at his retreating back. "_Ittekimasu_!" he called out as he jogged through the hallway.

Yuuta continued frowning until he heard the faint opening and closing of the front door that indicated Fuji's departure.

"Why the heck is he in a _good _mood?" he asked himself afterwards.

-

Fuji was on auto-pilot mode as he forced his way through the rain towards the train station. Holding a black umbrella steadily in one hand, he absently thought about the _adventures_ (read: witnessing unfortunate events befalling on his fellow schoolmates) that awaited him that day, not to mention the huge possibility of having morning and afternoon club practices suspended, and thus, providing him free time to do anything of his liking within those precious hours of pure unadulterated high school bliss (_Saa. . .a fun game for the team, perhaps?)_. The rest of his walk was spent planning out fun games that Fuji thought his teammates would like, that he barely noticed it as he reached the metro station, luckily not wet in any way.

"Hoi, Fujiko!" a loud, cheery voice that seemed unfit with the gray, glum atmosphere reached the tensai's ears, and he turned just in time to see two of his longtime friends and teammates, Kikumaru Eiji and Oishi Syuichirou, wound their way through the disgruntled-looking commuters towards him. Eiji, the redhead with a band-aid on his right cheek, was waving at him energetically, a cat-like grin plastered on his face.

"'Morning," Fuji greeted, once the two of them stopped short on either side of him. "Quite a weather, isn't it?"

Oishi sighed worriedly. "I'm afraid we need to postpone club practice. Someone might get down with a cold, or flu, or typhoid fever – or worse, pneumonia! I'm sure Tezuka would understand. I mean, it was raining since Monday and -"

"Typical Oishi," Eiji whispered to Fuji. "He was fussing over it ever since last night, nya."

" – told him that the club members' safety comes first, so I'm sure he'll think about it -"

Fuji only continued smiling at the Golden Pair. They may be already seventeen and third year high school students, but some things could just never change.

". . ._Like them," _Eiji pointed out in an undertone, when they finally arrived at their school, Seishun High School Academy. The acrobatic redhead was forcing out a friendly grin at the horde of giggling and squealing girls pressing on them and making it virtually impossible for anyone to break through the corridors – when in actuality he wanted nothing more than just run and hide from them forever. From beside him, Oishi politely greeted the girls, which he realized later on as a wrong move, as it made – if that was even possible – them much more giggly and squeal-y or something along that lines that you could ever come up with.

"Oi, oi, Fuji. . ." Eiji murmured to the person on his other side, silently seeking help.

Fuji was just standing there and grinning, letting the girls admire his never-changing facial expression with heart-shaped glazed eyes and clapped hands. Eiji sometimes wondered what was going on in the brown-haired boy's mind during these occasions; Fuji certainly wasn't someone to enjoy being fawned over (that was more like Atobe, if you ask him), yet, he wasn't making any indication that he did so. Perhaps, he thought that they would just go away if he continued being unresponsive?

"Fuji-sama, I wrote a poem for you!"

"Fuji-sama, I made lunch for you!"

"I heard you aced English Lit. again, Fuji-sama!"

"You're so beautiful, Fuji-sama!"

"Can I kiss your feet, Fuji-sama?"

Well, Fuji's supposed plan wasn't anywhere near successful, it that were the case.

"Saa. . ." said tensai finally said, and the girls fell quiet at once, as if there had been an unwritten rule somewhere to imply that interrupting Fuji was a mortal sin_, _"that's so nice of everyone. But we have to meet somebody right now, I'm afraid, and we're quite rushing. . .please make way for us, if you don't mind. . ."

Eiji continued staring at his good friend in awe as the girls, without so much as a word, obeyed his request, and they managed to get through without being crushed flat against any vertical surface - which was quite a miracle, if you ask him. "So that's how you do it. . .nya!" he said, once they turned a corner and were out of the students' earshot. "Sly!"

"Saa. . ."

"Those girls could give me a heart attack!" Oishi breathed in relief, his cheeks still slightly flushed from all the attention he previously received. "No wonder Kaidoh was half-scared into skipping class!"

Kaidoh Kaoru was one of their middle school kouhai that had decided to enter the same school as them after he graduated from Seigaku. He was still the shy, polite and sensitive boy underneath the scary, intimidating features – probably the main reason why he wasn't able to bear the pressure of always having a bunch of girls stalking and gushing over him as he would if it was his training regimen thrice the normal instead. The bandanna-wearing boy, who was currently in his sophomore year, had been added to the list of Seigaku's popularity poll ever since that event happened one month ago, when he did the heroic deed of carrying an underclassman under an asthma attack all the way towards the infirmary, and even volunteering to watch over her until she went well enough to be left alone. The girls found it really "manly but _sweet_" for him doing such a thing, that later on they seemed to have agreed upon themselves to make it a personal mission to shower Kaidoh's sweetness with "attention" – only much to said boy's embarrassment. It had scared Kaidoh to the point that he visibly stiffened whenever a member of the opposite sex came within a five-meter radius of his comfort zone, that some people – namely Momoshiro Takeshi, Momoshiro Takeshi, _and_ Momoshiro Takeshi – had found it really amusing and began tormenting the snake boy about the matter whenever they had the chance to.

And thus, Kaidoh Kaoru, after that, had never been the same again.

"Yeah." Eiji grinned in spite of Kaidoh's predicament. "But Kaoru-chan sure did look _adorable _trying to fend off his fangirls. . ."

Fuji and Oishi belonged to Class 3-4, while Eiji was on Class 6, so by the time they had reached the third year corridors, they have parted ways. Tennis practice had been postponed, as what they have figured out before, and there was nowhere else to be in better than inside the classroom, what with such a terrible weather going on out there, so they didn't really have any choice but to remain indoors.

While Oishi was hauled over by a number of classmates asking assistance for that day's Calculus homework, Fuji had busied himself on his desk by the window reading _David Copperfield_, zoning out everything else that had been going on around him as he concentrated on the English text on the book's pages.

In fact, he had even barely noticed it when the bell finally rang minutes later and their homeroom teacher entered the classroom at the very same time, still too immersed in the novel to bother.

"Class," Higuchi-sensei said, as Class 4 noisily sat back in their seats, "Before I start discussing about the projects you'll need to finish before the winter break -" Groans from half of the class rang throughout the room "- I'd like to make an important announcement. . ."

Fuji was briefly distracted from his book when thunder crackled from outside, making him look up to glance at the grayness of the landscape on the other side of the window by his seat. _Hmm. . .I think they should have suspended classes, _he thought, effectively not paying attention to Higuchi-sensei's words from in front that seemed to have completely piqued the interest of any other student present in the class.

He had only turned his attention to Higuchi-sensei when the said teacher had cleared his throat, writing kanji characters on the chalkboard while saying, "I'd like you to play nice and give a good impression."

Fuji turned to observe his classmates, and was actually mildly puzzled to see that they were attentively quiet. He 'hmmed' slightly. Had he missed an important news or something. . .?

Higuchi-sensei finally put the chalk down and turned back again to face them. Written on the board was a name that Fuji thought of not having heard before: _Miragaoka Wakana._

"Please welcome Miragaoka-san, the newest member of Class 4."

_Oh. _The class remained silent as a uniform-clad figure walked through the open classroom door silently, only stopping short right by Higuchi-sensei's side. It was an average-tall girl, possessing curly red-brown hair that reached down to her shoulder blades and amber eyes that were currently creased in a smile. . .

A smile that had taken literally the _whole _class aback.

Silence.

Fuji watched the scene in amusement. Miragaoka Wakana, the new girl, looked more like she was struggling to keep something horribly disgusting on her face than actually smiling. He thought that she shouldn't bother being so nice if she didn't want to, but then realized a second later that he wasn't one to talk; it's not like he himself wasn't guilty for hiding things behind a smile. His only difference from the girl being that he was good at doing it, while she definitely wasn't, which should count as something, he guessed.

The class diligently remained politely quiet, despite being. . ._intimidated _by the creepy smile of the girl in front.

"Uhh. . .hello!" said girl finally greeted, in a high-pitched voice that sounded forced in Fuji's ears. "My name is Miragaoka Wakana. It's nice meeting you!" She bowed after that, then pulled back up a little too quickly, so that her hair had bounced on her shoulders, the unnervingly sweet smile still present on her face.

More silence.

Higuchi-sensei, who had both failed to notice the new student's weirdness and the class' light apprehension towards her, said, "Would you want to tell us anything about yourself, Miragaoka-san?"

Fuji watched as Miragaoka Wakana turned to the teacher with a blank look, before she hitched back up the 'smile' and said to them, "Sure! Uhh. . .I'm from Fugawara Institute and -"

"_Fugawara?_" one of the boys in the middle row interrupted in an amused tone, finally breaking the heavy silence of the room. "Not the high school extension of Hyoutei Gakuen?"

The simple statement started to snap the class back to life. As murmurs floated around in the air about Wakana's supposed 'rich background (since Hyotei was a school for the A-Class people),' the said auburn-aired girl spoke out, "It is, indeed." Her eyes by then narrowed slightly for reasons unknown. "Sensei?"

"Yes, Miragaoka-san?"

"Didn''t they say that I could choose anywhere to sit?" she asked, in a voice that managed to make half the class wince and hush back into silence. Fuji was bemused still. What was with this girl and her fakeness?

Higuchi-sensei nodded solemnly. "There are a lot of vacant seats around, if you -"

Wakana had already walked towards the seats while scanning each and every one of her new classmates' faces, without so much as waiting for the teacher to finish. She paused right at the middle row, and frowned slightly as she observed the slightly uneasy faces that looked back at her.

It might be just him, but Fuji thought he saw her eyes harden as she looked down at them.

_Some new student we got here_, he thought in amusement.

Wakana continued eyeing the class with either a repulsed or pained expression – one would never know – until, finally, they landed on the fourth row seat by the window, where the resident tensai was seated. There was a moment of silence, where her eyes focused on Fuji's closed ones, before her smile widened considerably and she said out loud, "Sensei, I think I know where I like to sit!"

Unsurprisingly (for him, anyway), Wakana began to walk to his direction, her eyes never leaving him, while the class followed her progress with interest. Did she, perhaps, recognize Fuji's face somewhere? Fuji was popular in the Kanto tennis circuit, after all.

"Excuse me." Her voice pierced the silence like a dagger. However, she was addressing _not _Fuji, but the one sitting beside him, a boy named Tatsuya.

Tatsuya, who had jerked in surprise, looked around him nervously, as if he expected that Wakana was referring to someone else other than him. When he realized that, no, she was indeed talking to him, he timidly answered, "Y-Yes. . .?"

Wakana smiled. "May I. . .?"

". . .Eh?" Whatever she was implying, Tatsuya sure had not gotten it.

Wakana's eye did a slight twitch from behind her repulsively sweet smile, but the action had been so small that only Fuji and Tatsuya (who visibly cringed) managed to see it.

Wakana chuckled dryly at Tatsuya's pathetic reaction. "Your seat. I want your seat."

Tatsuya glanced at Fuji helplessly. "B-But -"

"_Please?_" she interrupted, putting light emphasis on the word, but with enough malice to make her point across – which was that she would get the seat, no matter what Tatsuya says.

Fuji, who actually held sympathy and a liking to Tatsuya as his seatmate, decided to intervene.

"Saa. . .Miragaoka-san," he cut in, smiling when the said girl snapped her head to him, "I think Nogi-kun doesn't want to switch places." He paused, letting everyone digest what he meant. The class tensed slightly. Fuji was opposing the new student!

Wakana's reaction was unreadable, but Fuji was exceptionally good in deciphering faces (probably the explanation behind the fact that he could last long around Tezuka, the heralded Ice King). Although, whether he understood what was going on behind the horribly pulled-out smile or not, his face definitely didn't show it.

The auburn-haired girl pulled back and chuckled in response, her eyes completely disappearing behind their lids as she smiled at Fuji. "Ah, I'm sorry." Turning back to Tatsuya, she asked, "Was what he had said true, _Nogi-kun?_" She watched, sweetly, as said boy shrank under her smile.

Tatsuya was never a popular figure in school to begin with. He was always the one who blended well with the walls, only noticed during headcounts and whenever there was an English homework. All of that changed, however, when he was assigned to sit beside Fuji, for people began to notice him, even if it's only about relaying messages for the tennis prodigy or giving love letters to said prodigy. Fuji was also really nice to him, treating Tatsuya like any other person that he knew, regardless of his unpopularity. Tatsuya had secretly idolized Fuji ever since, as he was inspired by the non-judgmental character a school figure such as him exuberated, despite Tatsuya being technically a good-for-nothing boy.

But this girl had just had to come to take away his only inspiration in school and be shoved back to his previous position at the bottom of the barrel. He could not let that happen.

But Tatsuya was never a boy who stood up for anything, much less himself. Therefore, he had easily succumbed to Miragaoka Wakana and her fake smile.

_I'm sorry, Fuji-kun. _"A-Ah. . .it's okay, Miragaoka-san," he said silently. Ignoring the penetrating gaze that his brown-haired seatmate was giving him, he stood and quickly gathered his things.

Wakana continued grinning as Tatsuya scurried away to a backseat, then gently took his former seat. "_Thank you, _Nogi-kun."

That was enough to make the whole class against her. No, not because she just bullied Tatsuya – they do not give a damn to Tatsuya, that was the bitter truth – but because she had the gall to _oppose _their Fuji-sama _and_ sit beside him, of all things. That was a serious violation in Seigaku's Code of Social Ethics that the self-proclaimed Fuji Fan Club had established to the student body like law, and opposing them would be an equivalent to writing a death sentence. Said fan club was the most notorious kind in all of Seigaku, even exceeding Tezuka Kunimitsu's humongous fandom, regardless of the latter having more members.

Just thinking of the numerous ways Fuji's fangirls could harass you could even make Kirihara Akaya in his Demon Mode cry.

Meanwhile, as the Fuji fangirls present in the class mentally included Wakana in their black list, the remaining saner, more discreet people only silently prayed over Wakana's soul. First day and already the number one in Fuji Fan Club's black list? Very very bad news.

"Please make Miragaoka-san feel comfortable, and please help her in coping up with our lessons," Higuchi-sensei said from in front, the formidable silence of the usually rowdy class still not enough for him to smell bloodlust in the air. Opening his notebook, the teacher then began to enumerate the projects needed before the winter vacation, making the class momentarily forget the new student long enough to cuss and groan at him.

But Fuji, instead of doing what the rest of his classmates did, carefully closed _David Copperfield _and turned to glance over at his new seatmate. Not even Oishi, who was sitting right in front of him, could have possibly read what was currently running on his head at that moment, as he observed Wakana.

Wakana, however, seemed least perturbed by Fuji. After placing her mechanical pencil above her notebook, she leaned back on her seat, as if she had not a care in the world. It had been quite a time before she noticed Fuji staring at her.

"Yes. . .?" she asked, politely, glancing at him with that infuriating smile.

Fuji went on par with his own version of an infuriating smile. "Nogi-kun really wanted that seat."

Wakana blinked, seemingly oblivious to the fact. "But that was the total opposite of what he said, Fuji-kun."

Fuji did the smallest of double-takes at that, his eyes threatening to open, but not so. "That is interesting, Miragaoka-san," he muttered in a casual tone, his smile twice as wide. People who knew him better, though (like the regulars), wouldn't fail to detect the lilt on it that forbode things one would not be too eager to reminisce later on. "_But how did you know my name_?"

It was now Wakana's turn to pause. How had she known Fuji now, indeed, when she was just new here and Fuji's name hadn't been mentioned to her before? "Ah. . ." she replied, after a moment, quickly recovering. "I'm sure you very well know of your reputation in this school, Fuji-kun."

"Saa. . .even so. It's too much for a transfer student to even hear my name right on her first day here."

There was only a soft chuckle as a reply.

"Say, Fuji-kun."

Fuji turned to her smilingly, choosing to overlook the fact that she had not answered his previous question. There could be some other time for it, he supposed. "Yes, Miragaoka-san?"

"Do you mind giving me a small tour around campus later?"

Fuji, if he was surprised, didn't show it at all. "Not at all."

He could almost see the fake smile widening. "Thanks, Fuji-kun."

_Miragaoka Wakana. . ._

"It's nothing, Miragaoka-san."

_It's not like it wouldn't come without a price, after all._

-

If only Fuji wasn't too busy explaining the history of the five-year-old Sakura tree in the school courtyard and its importance to the old diplomat who owned all Seishun schools, he wouldn't have failed to catch the discreet yawn that Miragaoka Wakana did secretly at the back of her hand as she stood some inches behind him, eyeing the aforementioned Sakura tree with as much interest as anyone would have given a half-rotten banana peel. The rain had temporarily stopped at around lunchtime, and fortunately enough, it still hadn't returned by the time that classes were dismissed, making the grounds dry enough – albeit still a little damp – for Fuji to lead his new classmate across the lawns.

Afternoon practices were resumed because of that, as per usual, but with a little permission from Tezuka, Fuji was able to excuse himself to find time in giving Wakana her requested tour. Which, if you look now, appeared to be quite unnecessary: Fuji was sharp enough to notice that Wakana perfectly knew how to take care of herself around campus, although he had yet to know how she acquired such skills in navigation. He was sure Wakana was aware of that as well.

So the reason as to _why _she wanted to be toured around campus – more so by _him _– was something that Fuji had sworn to uncover. And Fuji wasn't called the tensai for nothing, you know.

"So shall we get moving, Miragaoka-san?" he asked the girl behind him some moments later, mentally noting how her eyes suddenly flickered back to its twinkling state at the mention of her name. _Hmm, she really is weird, isn't she?_

"Uh, sure!" she said, convincingly enough to imply that she had been listening to every word he was saying. Fuji knew better, though.

There was a moment of awkward silence as they made their way out of the damp courtyard, with Fuji leading the way.

"So how do you find your new school, Miragaoka-san?" he asked, after a while.

There was a pause, before Wakana said, in that high-pitched voice, "Uhm. . .I think it's pretty!"

Fuji inwardly smiled (not that he _wasn't_ already smiling exteriorly). "Come on. Is that all you could say? A lot of outsiders comment on Seishun High's spacious grounds."

Wakana paused at that, her eyes steeling for a moment, before they came back to the normal barely-concealed bored state, crinkling slightly to a fake smile. She nodded. "Aa."

"Saa. . .maybe the school you came from was larger, I assume?"

"O ho ho ho!" Wakana waved a hand at Fuji in what was supposed to be a dismissive manner, but it appeared more like otherwise. "I suppose it is!"

"Fugawara Institute, isn't it?" Fuji paused, before he added, "Isn't it a bit far from here?" He secretly glanced back at her, trying to see her reaction. But, like it had ever been, Wakana still had that annoying smile on her face.

"Maybe, maybe not," she replied simply.

"Saa. . ." Fuji then came to a halt before a concrete pathway that led to the baseball fields. "If you continue down this way you'll reach the baseball field, and, of course, the baseball club clubrooms. Do you like baseball, Miragaoka-san?"

The sudden question seem to startle Wakana a bit, and Fuji was sure that he saw a flicker of something in her eyes before she replied, "I'm not a fan, I'm afraid."

It'd be loads of fun if he could startle her like that more often, he realized (his sadistic side springing into life).

The rest of the tour after that had gone well, except for the slightly disastrous trip along the gymnasium, where both the basketball and gymnastic clubs camped over. Fuji's appearance had turned almost every person's head to him, and you know what happens when one does not pay attention to what they were doing. After several concussions from being hit with basketballs and ankle sprains from missing the trampoline by several inches, Fuji finally ushered a mildly shaken Wakana out, to the direction of the tennis courts and as far away from the gym as possible.

"My, my. . ." Wakana barely hid the look of amusement in her face. "Your popularity is unnerving, Fuji-kun."

Fuji pretended not to hear her. "Every student is required to join a club in this school," he said cheerfully. "Do you already have one in mind?"

It had been a moment before Wakana replied. "That would be something I don't just share, Fuji-kun."

Fuji's eyebrows shot upwards. "Is it _that_ confidential?"

"I'm afraid so." Wakana used the back of her hand to flip the few strands of curly hair that managed to escape from the back of her ear, and Fuji was forcefully reminded of a certain gray-haired diva he had known from a certain rich-ass school when he was still in junior high. A sudden idea struck him.

"Say Miragaoka-san, do you know somebody named Atobe Keigo?"

Fuji looked back at her, and was actually surprised that Wakana's face hadn't changed one bit, not betraying even a hint of recognition or even a sign of befuddlement – as if she expected the very thing to come from him. _Interesting. . ._

"Atobe Keigo, huh?" She looked at Fuji, and the tensai thought that there was mockery in those eyes. "I think I heard of him."

"You think," Fuji repeated.

Wakana nonchalantly shrugged. "Who knows? I encounter people everyday. It's not surprising if I don't memorize all their names, _ne_, Fuji-kun?"

"Saa. . ." If this was a battle of cheekiness, Fuji wasn't one to lose. "But you seem not a bit surprised that I'd ask you about him."

Wakana smiled haughtily. "It's because I was always asked about him," she replied casually. "Once they knew where I came from, that is."

Fuji nodded. _Figures. _"Which makes me wonder; why did you leave your old school and transfer here? To say that it's already a bit off-timing to do so -"

Wakana suddenly interrupted him. "Tell me; why are you being so personal, Fuji-kun?"

Fuji stopped dead in his tracks, and turned around to see her lagging five steps behind him. Her eyes were closed again in her smile, but he noted that her fists were clenched tightly on either side of her. "I'm sorry if I offended you, Miragaoka-san," he apologized gently, though it seemed like he didn't sound sorry at all.

Five, long, tensed seconds passed, before Wakana suddenly perked up and snapped back to her pretentious front. "_Ne ne_, that's okay, Fuji-kun!" She resumed walking and passed by him, still smiling. "So where will we go next. . .?"

But Fuji, one who wasn't to let people diss him that easily, remained standing on his ground.

"You really love pretending, don't you, Miragaoka-san?"

Wakana came to a sudden halt, her foot suspended in mid-step. Her reaction would have been comical, if given in another place and in another time. But sadly, that was not the case, and Wakana wasn't really a person who'd look funny even in the most comical positions. Somehow, she had a way to make even the most humorous things seem unnerving.

But then again, Fuji also wasn't the sanest person around you'd meet. Therefore, he did a very unlikely thing, in spite of the heavy and unfriendly atmosphere.

He laughed.

"You're weird, you know that, Miragaoka-san?" he said, chuckling still, walking up to her frozen form. "What's the matter?"

Wakana's eyes came in contact with him, and it was the first time that they showed Fuji something that was not fake. They were angry, glaring at him as if he was the most loathsome creature to ever exist. This had made the smile fade from the tensai's face, to be replaced with a mild frown.

"Miragaoka-san?"

"Fuji-kun," she said simply. No horrible smiles this time, but the same intense gaze was still on. "Thank you, but I think I have to go. You still have tennis practice, I assume?"

Fuji was, in reality, taken aback – disappointed, even – that she would back out that easily, when it was only starting to be fun. But of course, tennis geniuses don't show it when somebody had just gotten the better out of them. So he did what he always did at times like this: smile like he had not a care in the world and overlook the awkward moment.

"Saa. . .I guess you're a bit tired out, eh?" he supplied helpfully, deciding to let her off the hook again. _She's just new, after all._

Wakana took another moment staring up at him (since he was taller than her), before looking away to stare ahead. "Yes. I think so." Giving him a side-long glance, she added, "But I want to ask you a question, Fuji-kun, before we part ways."

She had not even asked if it was okay for Fuji to be asked a question. _What an attitude. _"What is it, Miragaoka-san?"

Wakana had faced him completely this time. Fuji beamed down at her, like she was something really cute and cuddly that he really wanted to hu –

"Why do you play tennis?"

The question had come completely unexpected, that Fuji's mind even temporarily froze up once it registered what it meant. He had not bothered to hide his surprise behind a smile; his eyes had snapped open, revealing those blue eyes that only formidable opponents in the tennis courts had the privilege to catch a glimpse of. He stared down at Wakana for a moment, amused, before he regained himself and his eyes creased closed in another of his all-knowing masks.

Why was he playing tennis, huh?

"That's a very unlikely question to come from you," he finally said, after a long silence, his usual tensai-ish smile plastered on his face. "Are you a fan of tennis, perhaps?"

Wakana's answer was quick, too quick. "The opposite, actually."

"Maa. . .that's too bad, then."

"Will you bother to answer me?" she asked curtly.

Fuji opened his mouth to say something, but then changed his mind and closed it again, resorting to a mere smile. Wakana continued staring head-on at him, before returning his meaningful smile with one of hers.

It was a real smile. Though sadly, not a benign one. Nor a happy one.

Just a smile.

"I guess not," she finally said.

Fuji tilted his head to the side. "Maybe I'll be able to tell you some other time." He chuckled. "We're classmates, after all, so we'll be seeing each other a lot."

Wakana's 'friendly' front was back in full blast at that. "Sure." She looked at the direction of the tennis courts – or maybe she didn't know that the tennis courts were over there at all, since she was new in Seishun High - but one would never really know. "You still have practice. I hope you don't forget that."

"Of course," Fuji said, taking that as a sign to leave. He then began to walk away, but he was aware that Wakana still hadn't moved from her spot, watching his retreating back intently. _Miragaoka Wakana. . ._

He suddenly remembered something.

"Miragaoka-san?" He paused in his tracks and looked back at her.

Wakana hardly hid the look of mild surprise behind a smile when she said, "What is it?"

Fuji had to restrain himself from widening his smile. "I just wanted to tell you that you have really pretty fingers." Barely registering the look of shock that crossed Wakana's face, he turned his back to her and resumed walking. "I just thought you have to know. _Ja ne!"_

Wakana remained standing on the spot as Fuji turned a corner and disappeared, her eyes wide and her mouth slightly open. Slowly, she raised her left hand in level with her face, observing her pale long fingers in bemusement.

"_. . .you have really pretty fingers. . ."_

"Pretty. . .huh?" Wakana chuckled slightly, staring at her hand. "A very unusual observation." With that, she let her hand fall to her side, turned on her heel, and made her way back to the school building, letting her face relax to a tired expression for the first time since she entered Seishun High. It had been a long day, indeed, and forcing herself to smile for that long sure drained most of her energy. In fact, only one thing had made her survive throughout the extremely tedious ordeal. . .

_Fuji Syuusuke. . ._

Immediately, her eyes hardened, and her mouth formed a thin line. Fuji's ever-closed eyes, his unnerving smile and his mellow voice. . .everything about him seemed to get in her nerves. She shook her head wildly as a mental image of the tensai began to form in her mind.

When she entered her empty homeroom classroom and proceeded on fixing her things in her bookbag, she couldn't help but look intently at the empty desk on her left, which was right next to the window overlooking the school courtyard three floors below.

Fuji Syuusuke's desk.

Her hold on her world history textbook tightened considerably. Closing her eyes briefly to pacify herself, she swiftly stuffed said book in her bag and exited the classroom, not even bothering anymore to put on her half-hearted smile in case she met somebody on her way out.

_Fuji. . ._

A heavy scowl formed in her face.

_Nothing will make me change the fact that I hate you._

-

"Oh, Fujko!" Eiji noticed Fuji's arrival in the tennis courts. "How did the tour with the new student go. . .nya?" The redhead frowned at the brown-haired tensai. "Did something happen?"

Judging by Fuji's reaction, there _had_ to be something going on.

The smile in said tensai's face widened. "Saa. . .I just met someone very interesting, Eiji."

"Really?!" Eiji brightened up, like the childish boy that he was. "Is it the new student? I wanna meet her! What's she like?" He bounced along as Fuji went to the benches to retrieve his racket.

"Saa. . ." Fuji's smile widened even more that it was a wonder that he could hold it in place for so long. "She has pretty fingers."

Eiji paused and scratched his head confusedly as the brown-haired boy left.

"Pretty fingers. . .?"

-

**x** tbc. . .

* * *

**Notes that are here for a reason: **

1. Wakana (和奏) - From Japanese 和_(wa)_ "harmony" and 奏 _(kana)_ "play music, complete" (_Yah, an uncommon name, even for a Japanese, I assume)_

2. Since inventing Japanese school names are beyond my capacity, I decided to let them stick to their old schools. XD

3. Everyone here is three years older than they were by the end of the manga.

4. Everyone in Seigaku will be present, with occasional cameos from Hyotei (who can live without the diva, hmm? XD) and eventually, Fudoumine. Ryoma-chan is in America by the beginning of this story, and he'd be back with a surprise! surprise! later on.

5. No. Wakana doesn't play tennis. XD She does, however, have a secret talent, which will be revealed later on.

6. It was revealed in the PoT movie _Atobe's Gift _that Fuji liked girls who have "pretty fingers." I was already halfway through the first chapter when I watched and discovered it, and I was shocked to realize the unbelievable coincidence – for I have created Wakana with her pretty fingers way before I realized that Fuji liked them. Just a coincidence? Or is it Fate? XD Scary.

7. Is it just me, or was the summary humorous? I dunno; it sounds crack-ish to me. XD lol.

-

_Done. Finally. You know, I think my story is weird. XD Do you think so too? If so, click the button down there, but if not, click the button down there too anyway. XD SO YOU HAVE NO CHOICE! Wakekekekekekekeke!_

_Uh, sorry about that. I've had too much iced tea earlier. Thanks for reading this. Do you think I should continue? (no, it's not a rhetorical question. Answers. Are. Needed.). Wakana is someone I never encountered before in the PoT fandom. . .so, here she is! What do you think? Is she too weird? XD A Mary Sue? OMG, I hope not. But give me a hint if she is. Flames are more than welcome._

Hontou arigatou gozaimasu!


	2. The Fool

**NOTE: **It's been THREE FREAKING YEARS since I last updated this story! I'm not sure if anyone still remembers what this is all about, but, more importantly, the second chapter might sound a bit disconnected because my writing style had drastically changed over the years. So, if you find any discrepancies between this and the first chapter, please notify me immediately. :)

With that said, I might revise the first chapter as well (it still has my old username and original plot summary, which sucks, LOL). More A/N's are found at the bottom of this chapter. For the meantime, enjoy. ;)

* * *

**My Sweetest Downfall  
Chapter 2: The Fool**

* * *

"Syuusuke?"

Fuji was about to go downstairs and have his breakfast when his older sister's dreamy voice drifted from the half-open bedroom door at the end of the hallway. He turned and went to poke his head into Yumiko's room, noting that the young woman was sitting on the floor, concentrated on the tarot cards spread neatly before her. True to the popular belief that the members of the Fuji family had eccentric hobbies and tastes, Fuji Yumiko was a huge fan of Astrology, manifested though her penchant for horoscopes, palm-reading and other forms Divination. Based from Fuji's observation, tarot card-reading was arguably her most favorite medium out of all.

"Good morning, Onee-san," he greeted, announcing his arrival. "Do you need something?"

"Will you come here for a bit?" his sister asked, her eyes never leaving the cards on the floor.

Obediently, the second Fuji sibling quietly stepped in and sat cross-legged on the space across from Yumiko. He curiously looked down at the tarot cards as well, wondering what business she may have with him. It was rare that his sister called him to her room, after all. She had always valued her personal space, and it wasn't like either he or Yuuta had ever wanted to invade it in the first place—the wrath of the female members of his family was a force to be reckoned with, if their mother was anything to go by.

"How's school?" Yumiko started cheerfully, once she had finally looked away from her cards. "A high school senior now, eh? My baby brother is so grown up!" Her long curly hair was tied up in a messy bun, and she was devoid of her usual makeup. If Fuji were a girl, he would've looked exactly like her. Although physically she resembled Yuuta more, the youngest sibling always claimed that she and his older brother eerily shared the same smiles, and apparently the goal to make Yuuta's life miserable.

"So far, so good," Fuji said, before he was suddenly reminded of the events that had transpired the day before—the new student, her weird behavior, and her apparent dislike towards him and with anything in general. What was her name again? Miragaoka Wakana?

"Really?" Yumiko said, in a tone that suggested that she wanted him to elaborate more on that.

A characteristic smile lit up Fuji's face. "Actually, interesting things had happened yesterday." He noted his sister's satisfied expression at his answer.

"Is that so? That's very good to hear." she said sweetly. "I called you here because the cards have just shown me something that I think you might want to hear."

Fuji's brows rose an inch. "Is that so?"

Yumiko nodded absently. At that, she had pointed at a particular card placed neatly before her. "That is called The Wheel of Fortune."

Fuji leaned forward and stared at the card, which was depicting a blind-folded man sitting on what appeared to be a spoked wheel. "Saa…what does it say?"

To his mild surprise, his sister gave him a somewhat knowing look. "In this case, it can be interpreted as a major turning point, a development." She then proceeded to point the card placed next to The Wheel of Fortune. "This one is called The Tower. It is usually seen as a bad omen, but it can also represent a need for change. This one-" She moved her pointing finger to a third card in the spread. "—is called The High Priestess. It means secrecy." At this, her demeanor turned to something more serious. "Say Syuusuke, have you met or been hanging out with anyone new recently?"

Fuji stared (or appeared to do so, for there was no direct telling with his closed eyes) at his sister for a moment, the smile gone from his face and replaced with a confused frown. "Well," he started thoughtfully, "aside from the new transfer student in my class, I don't think I've met anyone new in the past few weeks. Why do you ask?"

"Is this new transfer student close to you?" Yumiko queried.

The thought made Fuji recall his parting words with the new transfer student, Miragaoka Wakana.

"_Miragaoka-san? I just wanted to tell you that you have really pretty fingers."_

"Not exactly," he replied casually, his mind drawing up a mental image of Miragaoka Wakana and her fake smile. "But she sits right beside me." He paused, before adding with a far too bright smile, "And she's an interesting girl." _Socially-awkward, more like._

"A girl, huh?" Yumiko then unceremoniously stood and made her way out of the room. "I suggest that you keep a close eye on your new classmate."

"Saa…and why would that be?" Fuji followed his sister's actions, but not before giving the tarot cards one last curious glance. There was still one card on the spread that his sister had not identified, but he decided to put it at the back of his mind for a later time.

Yumiko had not replied until the two of them reached the first floor landing of the Fuji household. After greeting and playing with the hair of a disgruntled Yuuta who had just emerged from the kitchen doorway in his hurry to the bathroom, she turned to Fuji and said, "She might be more to you than meets the eye."

That made Fuji stop in his tracks and tilt his head to the side, genuinely intrigued by his sister's cryptic message. "What do you mean?"

The eldest of the Fuji siblings only gave him a mysterious smile. "I don't know either. It's for you to find out."

* * *

The weather had proven to be still too formidable to push through morning club activities, and so once again students were forced in the confines of their school building until the start of homeroom period. Fuji found himself in the company of one Tezuka Kunimitsu within Seigaku's three-storey library, killing time by browsing through illustrated books on cacti. At least, that was what Fuji had been doing for the last thirty minutes. Tezuka, the perfect image of an old man trapped inside a seventeen-year-old's body, was deeply immersed on that day's morning newspaper.

They had not entirely planned to go to the library together – it was only by chance that they've met at the school entrance, and seeing that tennis practice was cancelled, Fuji had thought of just following Tezuka around, much to the former's enjoyment and the latter's annoyance. Fully knowing that trying to get rid of Fuji was useless, the team captain just resorted to spending his time in the library, the place where he could be least pestered as making noise was strictly not allowed.

Fuji was not one to easily give up, however.

"Ne, Tezuka," the tensai said in a whisper, taking the seat beside his Captain. "Isn't you birthday coming soon?"

Tezuka turned the page with a flick of his hand. "Aa," he said, his eyes never leaving the paper.

"Any plans? A dinner celebration at Taka-san's?"

"Probably."

"We can go to a KTV bar. I can make the arrangements."

"No, thank you."

"How about a sleepover?"

"…"

"No? Saa…"

Out of all his teammates, Tezuka was the last person that Fuji expected to become his friend. After all, he and the bespectacled young man had started out as rivals, and had spent the first two years since their introduction as mere acquaintances. Moments with Tezuka before had always been spent silently sizing each other up, a mind game that neither of them wanted to lose. It was only in their last year in middle school, when Seigaku had reached and won the Nationals, that he and Tezuka had formed a bond definitely stronger than that of acquaintances, only falling a little short to a kind of brotherhood seen in the likes of Eiji and Oishi. Fuji knew that even if Tezuka barely spoke ten sentences, he was someone that understood the inner workings of the tensai's mind, and that he respected Fuji not just as a tennis player, but as a person as well.

The friendship he shared with Tezuka Kunimitsu was one that didn't need any words or grand gestures. It was a mutual understanding that had developed from years of witnessing each other's growth as individuals.

"Oh I know," Fuji said, his face visibly lighting up. "What about we go to a-" He was cut off from his sentence, however, when he noticed a flurry of movement at the far end of the bookshelf that he and Tezuka were facing. He paused and put down the book he was holding, his brows forming a slight furrow as he tried to figure out what it was.

After about two seconds, a bob of black hair emerged from the corner of the bookshelf, only to disappear in a flash once again.

Fuji's smile widened. "Saa, I'll be back in a bit Tezuka," he said. "I'll just go look for more books." Deliberately, he put on an act of going to the bookshelf right behind them, before quickly making a U-turn and using the other side to get to the bookshelf where he thought he had seen the mysterious moving object.

As what he had expected, there was a person hiding behind it, her back facing Fuji as she continued to keep an eye out to where he had originally gone to.

Eager to witness her surprised reaction, he quietly crept up behind the stranger, close enough to lean by her ear. "Why, hello there."

The girl almost jumped out of her skin at the sound of his voice. With a stifled gasp, she violently turned around and tripped on her own foot, losing her balance in the process. Luckily, Fuji was fast enough to pull her arm before she completely fell on her bottom, and consequently give him a full view of what was underneath her skirt.

"Whoa, easy there," he said, steadying her on her feet. "I'm sorry if I surprised you."

The girl – who looked about two years younger than Fuji – looked positively mortified at the sight of him. She had long, straight black hair and wide and child-like brown eyes, and the top of her head didn't even reach his shoulders. Upon realizing that Fuji was holding her arm in a tight grip, her face turned to an unhealthy shade of red.

"U-Uh…" she stammered, seemingly frozen on the spot.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Fuji said, finally releasing her and looking at her concernedly. "Maybe I grabbed you too quick. Did it hurt?"

Her eyes now looked like they were to pop out from their sockets. She opened her mouth in an attempt to say something, but only a faint gurgling noise came out. Fuji was beginning to think that he might have done some bad damage to the poor girl's ability to speak.

"Fuji."

The tensai looked over his shoulder and saw Tezuka standing a little ways from him and the girl, eyeing the scene with a blank look on his face. He looked at the girl with mild worry, before he turned to give Fuji an 'I-hope-you're-not-causing-trouble' look. "Class will start in ten minutes."

Fuji looked bemused. "I see." He smiled back at the girl, who visibly jerked the moment they made eye contact. "I think it's best if you go back to your room as well."

"…Y-Yes…" she managed to stutter. "I-I'm s-sorry. P-Please excuse me," she muttered under her breath, bowing at them briefly and practically dashing off to the exit, leaving two perplexed boys behind.

After a brief, awkward pause, Fuji decided to let out a small chuckle. "That was weird," he told Tezuka jovially. "I caught her spying on us a while ago. I just wanted to say hello."

Tezuka's eye seemed to twitch, before he wordlessly walked away in the same direction the girl took. He was most probably thinking that Fuji was insane and not to be taken seriously.

_Tezuka will always be Tezuka, _Fuji thought, shaking his head smilingly at some private joke. On the way back to his classroom, he suddenly realized that the girl earlier seemed to look vaguely familiar to him, though he couldn't pinpoint exactly where he had seen her before.

…_Interesting_.

* * *

"…_The aftermath of the Second World War had divided the world into three parts: the capitalist United States of America, the socialist Soviet Union, and lastly, the remaining clusters of mostly underdeveloped countries labelled as the Third World. The first two emerged as economic superpowers and engaged in a race to spread their influence and ideologies among the less-developed countries, known in history as the Cold War…" _

A quick scan of his classmates' faces told Fuji that barely anyone was still listening to the history teacher in front. While many stared ahead with half-open mouths and drooping eyes, trying their best to stay awake and look attentive, some had resorted to secretly texting or passing notes to each other, completely disregarding the presence of the teacher. The more daring ones had given up on being discreet and unabashedly slept on their desks, using their textbook either as a pillow or a shield from the teacher's line of vision. The teacher, Date-sensei, didn't look like he cared that much, going on with his lecture in a monotonous voice and a straight face.

Fuji, on normal days, would be staring at the vast grounds of Seigaku through the window to his left in order to kill some time. That day, though, he had discovered a more entertaining pastime than making out shapes from the clouds and counting off the Kantou skyscrapers still visible from his vantage point.

This new source of entertainment came in the form of his seatmate, transfer student Miragaoka Wakana.

For the past half-hour, Fuji had spent his time openly watching Wakana, not caring if it made her uncomfortable in any way. To her credit, she appeared completely at ease with it, even if Fuji knew that she was completely aware of being observed. Unlike the rest of the class (with the exception of Oishi, perhaps), Wakana was listening attentively to Date-sensei, taking down notes of his every word. At times, she would bite the inside her cheek and click her mechanical pencil until the lead fell out. She also crossed her legs from time to time, at a ten-minute interval, at the very least.

At some point during Fuji's stare-fest, Wakana had looked up from her notes to regard him quizzically.

"Good morning, Miragaoka-san," Fuji said in a sing-song voice, a wide smile plastered on his face.

"Enjoying the view?" she replied simply. Unlike yesterday, however, she didn't bother to put up a nice act and returned his gaze coldly.

Her question made Fuji chuckle lightly. "Not so much, to be frank."

That made her raise a perfectly-trained eyebrow. "I see. You know, you can look elsewhere if you don't enjoy what you're seeing," she deadpanned.

"Oooh, am I sensing a sensitive spot right there?" Fuji said slyly.

Much to his amusement, Wakana let out an unamused snort, very much in contrast with her upright and elegant demeanor. "Whatever you wish to think, Fuji-kun." She went back to taking down notes.

"Not trying to be nice anymore, Miragaoka-san?" Fuji said, trying to gain back her attention—and succeeding at it. "I didn't think you'd drop the act so easily."

Wakana stopped writing. Then she looked back at him and blinked _really _slowly, the corner of her lips pulled up in another one of her horrible smiles. "As much as I want to have a conversation with you, Fuji-kun, we are currently in class. We have all the time to talk during the break."

Fuji turned on his seat to face her and leaned forward so that his face was only a few inches away from hers. "Is that a subtle way to ask me out for lunch?" he asked in a low whisper.

Wakana's brown eyes hardened like steel. "If I were you, I wouldn't try to be so cheeky," she said evenly, but Fuji managed to detect the dangerous lilt in her voice. If anything, that made his smile turn to an eerie smirk, his eyelids lifting to reveal vivid electric blue eyes.

"Maybe you should tell that to yourself, Mi-ra-gao-ka-san."

He caught the infuriated flash in her eyes before they were both distracted by Date-sensei's announcement from in front.

"As your homework for next week, I am going to ask you to find a partner and produce a three-thousand word essay discussing the various economic development models that became popular in the 1950's. Please include your insights and criticisms. There will be additional points for citing references. That will be all."

At that exact moment, the school bell rang to announce the end of morning classes and the start of lunch break. As if woken from a spell, the class came back to life and noisily pushed back their chairs, loudly blabbering about what to have for lunch. Fuji and Wakana remained in their seats, unfazed by the commotion and still locked in their private staring match.

It was then when Oishi decided to appear, unknowingly breaking the ice that had formed between the two.

"Fuji, are you having lunch at the cafeteria downstairs, or did your sister pack you food?" the vice-captain started, then noticed Wakana still sitting there. "Oh, hello Miragaoka-san."

That seemed to have snapped her back to her senses. "Hello to you too!" she piped up, reverting back to her poorly-built façade.

"I don't think I've introduced myself formally yet," Oishi said, giving off a warm smile. "I'm Oishi Syuiichiroh."

Wakana discreetly gave him a once-over, her piercing brown eyes lingering on a wayward wrinkle on his shirt. "Nice to meet you, Oishi-kun."

"Miragaoka-san here has already invited me for lunch," Fuji said matter-of-factly. "Isn't she so friendly?" His voice was sweet when he said it. Too sweet.

Oishi, failing to detect any sign of danger, looked pleasantly surprised. "Is that so?" He turned to Wakana eagerly. "It's good that you seem to be going along well with Fuji, Miragaoka-san. I was kind of worried you'll have a hard time fitting in. We're on our last year, after all; everyone here has already known each other for a while so trying to find your own group can be tougher than it seems."

Wakana nodded earnestly, then gave the tensai a sickeningly sweet smile. "Luckily, I have _Fuji-kun_ with me."

Fuji had diligently kept a smiling face throughout the conversation. "Saa…that's a very nice thing to say, Miragaoka-san," he said modestly.

Oishi seemed completely oblivious to the tension between his teammate and the transfer student. "Indeed," he said in agreement. "Anyway, Fuji, I also came here to ask you to be my partner for our History homework—"

"Ah!" Wakana suddenly exclaimed, bolting to her feet and rushing to Fuji's side. "I'm sorry Oishi-kun," she started, barely sounding apologetic at all, "but I'm afraid that I'll be pairing up with Fuji-kun for the homework."

Oishi blinked, mildly taken aback. "O-Oh, is that so?"

Wakana nodded, then turned to Fuji for reassurance. "Right, Fu-ji-kun?" The wide smile on her face looked painful to maintain. "_You promised._"

For a moment, Fuji just looked back at her, his smiling expression unwavering. "Yes, I did," he finally said, turning to Oishi. "Sorry, Oishi."

Oishi just laughed it off. "Don't be ridiculous. You just stick with Miragaoka-san here and help her adjust in her new school, yeah? I'll be off to see Eiji. See you!"

"See you!" Fuji and Wakana chorused, watching as their oblivious classmate left the scene. The moment that the vice-captain was out of sight and earshot, Wakana glanced at Fuji's direction coolly.

"My, I guess we'll have to stick together, ne?" she said with a wide smile, her eyes disappearing behind their lids.

Fuji's smile was close to sadistic. "So, will it be your treat?"

Thirty minutes later, Fuji and Wakana were sitting across from each other at one of the tables at the cafeteria, much to the bewilderment of the entirety of Seishun High School's student body. Whispers travelled fast as furtive glances and open stares were sent at Wakana's way, speculations on her identity and origins getting blown out of proportions by the minute. From a close distance, a cluster of students from the Fuji Fan Club diligently watched over the two like a pack of angry wolves waiting for an opportunity to attack. They had never seen Fuji publicly alone with a girl aside from whenever he went out with his older sister, making the scene currently unfolding before them a serious desecration of their belief that Fuji was untouchable. After all, the tensai had rejected all the courageous girls who had attempted to ask him out in the past, so how could this new transfer student possibly be any different from any of them?

It was a school-wide issue to resolve as long as a member of the prestigious tennis team was involved.

"It looks like we're making a scene, Fuji-kun," Wakana casually remarked, taking a small sip from her bottle of orange juice. Fuji noticed her face crinkle in disgust at the taste of her choice of beverage, making him chuckle lightly.

Wakana gave him an even stare. "What seems to be funny?"

"Nothing," Fuji said cheerfully. "If you don't like orange juice, why buy it in the first place?"

She looked affronted for a moment. "I _like _orange juice," she said forcefully. "It's just that this school serves horrible orange juice."

"I apologize in behalf of Seishun High's administration, then," Fuji said, taking a bite of his meat bun. "I bet cafeteria food's better in Fugawara Institute."

"Indeed, it is."

"Which brings me back to the question of why you have transferred here."

Wakana, who was in the process of relieving her salad of tomatoes, paused at that and regarded Fuji with an unfathomable expression on her face. When he continued staring her down, she put down her fork, rested her hands on the table and leaned forward—in the similar manner than Fuji did earlier in the classroom—so that their noses were merely inches from one another.

"Let me tell you something that you still don't know_,_" she said, her lips curled up in a smirk. "_I don't like you, Fuji-kun._"

It was now Fuji's turn to give an unamused snort. "I guess you have already established that since we've met," he said. "Why are you doing this, then?"

"Doing what?"

"Getting close to me."

That seemed to amuse Wakana, for she broke out in a fit of giggles. "As how the popular saying went, Fuji-kun," she said, batting her eyelashes at him, "keep your friends close, but your enemies _closer_." At that, she withdrew and rose to her feet, carrying her tray of barely touched food with her. "I'd like you to know that I'll be watching you, Fuji-kun, throughout your final year here in this terrible school."

"That's alright with me," Fuji said coolly, resting his elbows on the table and regarding her calmly. "I am just curious as to why I would earn the ire of someone like you, Miragaoka-san, whom I don't recall ever being acquainted with before."

Wakana's eyes lowered and a small, mysterious smile graced her lips. "The world is a small place," she said simply. "Actions, no matter how small, can leave significant marks on other people's lives."

There was a moment of silence, where Fuji tried to figure out what she meant. Then Wakana said something under her breath, her voice so soft that he barely caught her words.

"_Someone like you will never understand_."

That made Fuji frown heavily. Before he could do so much as reply, however, Wakana turned her back to him and stalked away, unceremoniously dumping all the contents of her tray in the nearest trash bin before exiting the cafeteria, trailed by countless pairs of eyes and loud whispers.

* * *

Curiously, Wakana had not shown up for the rest of the afternoon classes. Fuji found his thoughts occasionally drifting towards the empty desk to his right, wondering if the conversation in the cafeteria earlier had something to do with his seatmate's sudden absence. That aside, it was only her second day in Seishun High School Academy—skipping classes would definitely not give a good impression on the teachers.

The moment classes ended, Fuji was approached by a bothered Oishi, accompanied with a few classmates who looked like they were only there to catch up on some latest gossip.

"Do you by any chance know why Miragaoka-san didn't attend class?" Oishi, ever the worrywart, asked him.

Fuji shrugged nonchalantly. "I have no idea."

"But weren't you together at the cafeteria?" a random classmate blurted out, covering her mouth when Fuji and Oishi both looked at her, surprised at her sudden interruption. "M-Maybe she told you where she'd gone to…?" she finished somewhat lamely.

"Well, that's true," Oishi said wonderingly. "That's actually why I asked you."

"She didn't really tell me anything," Fuji said, standing and packing up his things. "Maybe she suddenly didn't feel well."

"Serves her right!" another female classmate sneered.

"Yeah, how dare she get close to _our_ Fuji-sama!"

"Relax, everyone!" Oishi said loudly. "Miragaoka-san is just new here, let's all be nice to her."

"Nice? But she's so fake!"

"_I hate her hair!_"

"She looks like a toad!"

"There's no use in trying to stop them, Oishi," Fuji said to his teammate good-naturedly, putting a hand on Oishi's shoulder to pacify the other young man. "Let's just go down to the courts. Though I think there would be no practice for this afternoon either."

Oishi sighed in resignation. "You're right."

As the two of them walked along the hallway, Oishi started another one of his long rants about Eiji and Momoshiro's latest attempts in wreaking havoc in the clubroom, the casualties of which included three terrified freshmen and Kaidoh's favorite green bandanna. By the time they reached the shoe lockers, Oishi was still going on about upholding discipline and professionalism in the club, that Fuji had to divert the topic just to calm him down.

"Some things just don't change," the vice-captain concluded grimly, bending down to tie his shoe laces.

Fuji smiled at his antics. "Exactly." He turned back to his own locker and pulled out his tennis shoes—only to have a piece of folded paper falling out from inside his locker and landing on the floor silently. He looked down at it in mild surprise.

The upturned side of the paper had neat kanji characters spelling the words "_Fuji Syuusuke_."

Slowly, Fuji picked up the paper and unfolded it. It appeared to be a page torn from a standard notebook. Inside, he found four more paragraphs of the same neat handwriting, appeared to be written in haste.

_Fuji Syuusuke,_

_Please do not ignore this letter. I have written this because I do not have the strength to talk to you in person. Please take this letter seriously. Trust me when I say that I would know if you have disregarded this letter. I will only write to you again if such thing happens, and will never stop until you finally follow my advice._

_I will go straight to the point. PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM MIRAGAOKA WAKANA. I know this sounds crazy and even creepy but you have to take my word for it. I can't provide you with any valid reason at this moment, so I am only relying on your better judgment. Her sudden transfer here in Seishun High and placement in the same class as you is not a mere coincidence. She has ulterior motives, and YOU are included in them. _

_You may notice that she would do things to catch your attention and get close to you, and I tell you, DON'T FALL FOR THEM. Please trust me, I know Miragaoka Wakana better than any other person in this school, and she is a person who won't stop until she gets what she wants. She doesn't mean you good. She doesn't mean anyone in this school any good._

_You have to trust me on this. I know it's hard to believe an anonymous person, but this is what I can do for now. Stay away from her and resist her advances, before it's too late._

_I am only after your welfare._

_Sincerely,_

_M.Y._

"Fuji?"

Fuji's mind was still reeling when he snapped his head up at Oishi. "Hmm?"

His teammate was looking at him worriedly. "Are you alright?"

In a swift movement, Fuji folded the letter and tucked it in his pants pocket. "Yeah, I'm sorry. Were you saying something?"

Oishi's frown deepened. "What was that paper?" he asked, pointing at Fuji's pocket.

"Oh, that?" Fuji easily arranged a convincing smile on his face. "Just another one of _those_ letters."

"You mean love notes?" Oishi said, closing his locker and securing it with the lock code. "What did it say this time?"

Fuji bent down and wore his tennis shoes, mainly to hide from Oishi's scrutiny. "Saa…something about underwear," he said, blurting out the first thing that came into his mind.

Oishi blushed a faint red and choked on his own saliva. "No way!"

"Way," Fuji said solemnly, straightening up and closing his own locker. "So, shall we go?"

The heralded Mother Hen of Seigaku shook his head in disbelief. "Girls these days." Nevertheless, he followed Fuji's lead, and the two headed out to the courts.

Fuji's mental cogs, however, were working in full speed. Like an old melody, Yumiko's words played inside the tensai's mind all over again.

"_She might be more to you than meets the eye."_

Fuji had almost forgotten that it was a known fact in his family that his sister's predictions had _never _gone wrong.

* * *

"Inui."

A very tall young man with black spiky hair and thick square glasses looked up from a test tube filled with an unidentifiable green substance to spot Fuji leaning casually on the doorway of the science laboratory. Only members of the tennis club would know that the team's resident data specialist, Inui Sadaharu, would spend his leisure time in the confines of this particular old lab that the school did not use for classes anymore, developing enhanced versions of his Inui Juice that had served as one of the "dark secrets" behind the immense efficacy of Seigaku's training regimen.

"Ah, Fuji," the data specialist said by the way of greeting, resuming his interrupted work. "Not going home yet?"

Fuji allowed himself into the lab and looked around at the various curious objects that littered the room. There were several flasks and test tubes filled with an assortment of colored liquids, none of which looking safe for human consumption. "Still working on Inui Juice?"

"Yes," Inui replied. "I am currently developing one with ginkgo biloba extracts. Care for a drink?"

"I'd love to," Fuji said, going over to Inui's side and accepting his offered plastic cup filled with same green gunk in the test tube. He downed the concoction in one gulp.

"Well?" Inui said expectantly.

Fuji looked thoughtful. "Did you add daikon radish in this?"

"Good observation. Yes, I did."

"Delicious. You should introduce this to the team as soon as practice resumes."

Inui nodded, seemingly satisfied with his teammate's feedback. "So what brings you here?" he started casually, transferring samples of the ginkgo biloba drink into several vials.

Fuji went to the windows and stared at the dank gray sky overhead. "Actually, I want to ask you a favor."

"I figured as much. What is it this time?"

When Fuji turned around to face Inui once more, the latter had paused from his activity and crossed his arms over his chest, giving the tensai a scrutinizing look.

"I want information on the new transfer student in my class," he bluntly stated, his voice devoid of its usual flighty tone.

"What for?" the data specialist asked.

"She interests me," Fuji said simply.

The side of Inui's lips lifted to form a lopsided smirk. "That doesn't sound so good."

Inui and Fuji had shared a connection generally unknown to the tennis club dating way back in middle school. Even if some members such as Tezuka and Oishi had suspicions on an on-going conspiracy between the two, no one had dared to openly question the nature of conversations that happened between (arguably) the two most fearsome members of the Regular team. Fuji's reputed insanity and Inui's equally manic love for experiments sounded like the perfect combination for the makings of a diabolical plot, one that directly involved the lives of the Regulars and their chances of having children in the future.

"You're exaggerating, Inui." Despite what he said, there was a foreboding air in Fuji's smile.

Inui pushed his glasses further up his nose. "What's the name of the subject?"

If that was possible, Fuji's smile widened even more. "Miragaoka Wakana."

"Miragaoka Wakana…" Inui tested the name on his tongue. Then his glasses glinted maliciously against the fluorescent lights of the lab. "How much do you want to know?"

Fuji took a few deliberate steps and lifted a flask of purple substance from the nearest table. As he brought the mysterious object close to his face, his smile disappeared and his blue eyes shone in the reflection of the glass.

"Everything."

There was a small pause, before Inui said, in a tone tainted with the slightest hint of excitement, "Give me three days."

Crossing either Fuji or Inui was bad enough, so how else could it be if one crossed them both?

Miragaoka Wakana indeed didn't know what was coming her way.

* * *

**NOTES:**

- I am no expert on tarot card-reading, but I did some research on the interpretations of each card. I love writing Fuji's family, so more Yumiko and Yuuta scenes are to come. :)

- There is a reason that the title of this chapter is _The Fool. _Go figure!

- I hope this chapter has helped in shedding light to Wakana's real identity. Why do I feel like it suddenly sounds all serious? The next chapter will be less weighty, that's for sure.

- Also, hints of the KaidohOC pairing will be seen in the following chapter.

Hope you liked it! Reviews will be really, really lovely. :)


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